7 tips to learn a new language as a Mom

Learning a new language is a fascinating experience. It can be transformational. Your perceptions about the people, their culture and traditions can change significantly. That’s how I felt 11 years ago, when I first met my husband and I had to learn French to be able to communicate with my in-laws. Now, I am learning Chinese and I feel the same way, as if a whole new world would have opened in front of my eyes.

But…yes, wait. Something is different. I now happen to be a full-time working mom and all the time I used to have in my hands is no longer there. How do you make a commitment, find the time and make it happen while being a mom?

Here are 7 tips that help me in sustaining my Mandarin learning efforts.

1. Learn it with your husband

My husband started to learn Chinese with podcasts in the car because he had a long commute. “Why wait until we retire to learn a new language?” he would wonder.  I am a competitive person and I didn’t want to fall behind so I started also. It was fun to check on each other’s progress and practicing our broken Chinese made our dinners quite enjoyable.

2. Learn it with your kids

At the same time, we decided to sign up our kids for Chinese Saturday school. We thought that learning Chinese would make our children (4 and 7 years old) more open-minded and give them more opportunities. I also signed up to be the class mom, which helped me learn at the same time than my daughter. Learning as a family makes it definitely easier. We are all in it together. We all have homework. No excuses.

3. Make it flexible with Skype

My husband and I both work full-time and raise 2 children. Like all parents we are busy and our plates are full. We found an affordable online tutoring service via Skype twice a week, from 9:30pm and 10pm. The kids are in bed, so no guilt. But yes, I guess we are a little bit nuts. Anyhow, we really enjoy our teacher, and… it is a real pleasure to learn while sipping a glass of red wine.

4. Do it 10 minutes at a time

It is quite difficult to find time to study and do homework. At night, I am really tired. During the day, not a chance, and in the evening, it is all about the kids. ‘Well…what about commuting time?’ would ask my ‘dear’ husband. I guess, at the beginning I didn’t think that 10 minutes could make a difference but… he was right, it really helped. And now, it is like coffee. I kind of need my free Chinese podcast in the morning. It gets me going.

5. Enjoy the food

Like many people, we love to eat good food. Since we started learning Chinese, we became more interested in the cuisine. We started going to a local Chinese restaurant. Added bonus: we practice Mandarin with the owners and we get desserts for free!

6. Have a 10-year outlook

With my husband we said it would be great to be fluent in 10-years from now. Low pressure, it helps us take it easy, and if we are fluent in 4 or 5 years from now, we will have exceeded our expectations!

7. Plan a trip

I have never been to China. We are planning to go there as a family. It gives me additional motivation to sustain my language learning efforts, and the preparation of the trip is a much of a learning opportunity as the trip itself.

Here are some other tips from moms learning a new language. I encourage you to check them out:

The Story of How It Worked For Me: One Mom’s Journey at The Everyday Language Learner

Motherhood & Language Learning: An Attempt to Reach the Lower Level of Babel at Multilingual Living
http://www.yourlanguageguide.com/learning-spanish-language.html at Your Language Guide

Language Learning Carnival at Sahm Sisters

The Lazy Expat Mom's Guide to Language Learning at I Was An Expat Wife

10 Tips to learning a New Language and Surviving it Mentally at Rachel’s Rantings

How parents foster learning of a 2nd language through Play

In our Western culture, it is engrained for a long time that play is the best way for children to learn, grow and develop. According to Froebel (1897), “Play holds the source of all that is good” for the child. Piaget, the educational theorist, stated in the 1930s that play provides an ideal environment for the child’s development.

Although we often believe that free unstructured play is the most effective to learn a 2^nd language, what several parents express is the need to be actively involved in playing with their child. Some type of structure helps learning.

After talking to parents that play with their children in a 2^nd language, here are 5 ways parents foster learning of a new language through Play:

1. Role playing

2. Turning family activities into play

3. Playing out imaginary stories

4. Unstructured play

5. Learning through games

1. Role playing

Role-playing is probably the most effective form of play to practice a 2^nd language. The constant interaction really engages the children and help repeat vocabulary and sentences

“Emma is the owner of the grocery store, and I am the customer. I buy different things and I ask how much each costs”

“Pablo loves to be the zoo keeper. So we play together and make sure each animal in the zoo has fun”

2. Turning family activities into play

Children love to learn and play through activities they do with their parents. It is a great way to develop vocabulary. Often, these are activities that parents truly enjoy, and want to share with their own children

“We play soccer with my daughter and I repeat to her everything that I do in French: I pass you the ball, kick it, you just scored, etc.”

“I like spending time with my son cooking in the kitchen. As we make a soup, I repeat frequently the names of all vegetables and ask him to do the same.”

3. Playing out imaginary stories

“My son loves Spiderman. So we pretend that Spiderman is in Italy and I am a bad guy there that he is trying to stop”

“I do a little theater-play with my daughter at bedtime. I act out a little scene for less than a minute, for example I am going for a walk in the forest and I meet animals with funny colors. Then, my daughter will do the little show”

4. Unstructured play

Parents see the effectiveness of their child play in an unstructured way. However, this works best when a child is with other kids that only speak the 2^nd language you want your kid to learn.

“We organize play-dates with other children whose parents are Chinese. However, when the kids are together, they tend to play in English”

“When go to Germany, Victor just plays all the time in German with his cousins. A great way for him to become more fluent”

5. Learning through games

Games definitely bring fun in language learning. They also often involve friendly competition and keep the kids engaged.

“We take a bunch of cards and turn them upside down to play a memory game to find the matching cards”

“When I still want Daniel to listen to some Hindi while I am cooking, I let him play some games in Hindi on the iPad”

Depending of the environment, play dates with other children can be of limited effectiveness to develop learning of a 2^nd language. Parents stress that frequent interactions with mom or dad while playing tends to give much better results in increasing the likelihood of the child saying words in the 2^nd language.

10 New Year Resolutions to Help Your Children Learn a 2nd Language

We all believe that teaching our children more than one language will have a positive impact on their lives. This is the perfect time to make 2012 a great language learning year.

Our 10 resolutions are articulated along 3 themes:

-       Make the commitment

-       Make it fun

-       Make it easy

1.     Make the commitment: Spend vacation in your target country

The preparation of the trip is as much a learning opportunity as the trip itself: learning vocabulary, the places to visit, how to greet friends.

2.     Make the commitment: Find an online tutor

There are several websites out there that offer very flexible and affordable tutoring and conversation in the language you would like your child to pick up. You can do it from home via Skype, at the time you want, at the frequency you want.

3.     Make the commitment: Sign up for Saturday school

Check out opportunities for language instruction on Saturdays. Start with Mommy or Daddy-and-me classes. Often there are volunteer or non-profit schools not far away (ex.: Huaxia schools in New Jersey for Mandarin, Alliance Francaise in New York or Parlez-Vous Francais in New Jersey for French)

4.     Make it fun: Watch your favorite cartoons in the target language

Whether it is Beauty and the Beast or The Incredibles, you feel better about your children watching TV if they are exposed to a 2^nd language

5.     Make it fun: Find a song you sing together karaoke-style

Find on YouTube a song you and your child like, and sing it together until you know it by heart.

6.     Make it fun: Find an app your children love

A fun app to learn a language on a tablet or phone keeps the kids entertained and engaged while traveling or when you need a break

7.     Make it easy: Make a 5 minute routine out of a bedtime story

Reading stories is the cornerstone of learning a new language. Selecting a favorite story and making it a routine creates a repetition of key expressions and enhances learning

8.     Make it easy: Engage friends and family to read stories

Ask your family or friends for help. If someone is far away, ask them to read a story in the 2^nd language via Skype.

9.     Make it easy: Listen to podcast stories

Several free podcasts (like Cody’s Cuentos in Spanish) offer you a weekly story your child will enjoy

10.  Make it top of mind

Write the resolutions, print them out and stick them on the fridge!

Famigo reviewed Princesses Learn Spanish

We are happy that Famigo reviewed "Princesses Learn Spanish" and gave it a 4-star rating: "Great app for learning beginner Spanish words. The Spanish is integrated into classic princess fairy tales"


You can check out the review here:

http://famigo.com/app/princesses-learn-spanish/#btn-more

2011 was a fun year to share via our blog what parents do to help children learn languages.  Also, we had a good time building apps to make it fun for children to learn. Thank you to all the parents and friends who supported us. We wish everyone a great and healthy 2012.


Cristina & Franck

The iPhone Mom reviewed Princesses Learn Spanish

The iPhone Mom reviewed our free iPad and iPhone app:


"Princesses Learn Spanish is a great tool for introducing little ones to Spanish".


Check out the full review: http://bit.ly/tcmHPR

Our New Apps Are Live!

We are launching today our latest apps for iPad and iPhone: Princesses Learn Spanish and Princesses Learn French


Here is a short video of Princesses Learn Spanish

And the link to download it on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/princesses-learn-spanish/id472617221?ls=1&mt=8

Here is a short video of Princesses Learn French

And the link to download it on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/princesses-learn-french/id478294713?ls=1&mt=8

Enjoy learning Spanish and French with the Princesses!

Princesses Learn Spanish and Princesses Learn French, our two latest free apps!

We are excited to launch two new free apps for iPad and iPhone on December 9th: Princesses Learn Spanish and Princesses Learn French.

Similar to our existing free app, Princesses Learn Chinese, both apps have a story-based approach, with games and songs, to expose children to Spanish and French words and expressions.

Each story will have new words, integrated in timeless tales. The stories are told by professional narrators, with classical music by Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty).

The new words in the story will be reinforced through games and songs. Our objective is to make it fun for children to learn their first words and expressions.

Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are the first books in the collection. The application is free, and the 1^st book is free. The other books will be available for purchase.

We look forward to your feedback and your comments on the app. We hope your children will have as much fun playing with it as we had making it.

Enjoy learning Spanish and French with the Princesses!

The power of songs to help children learn a 2nd language

Music classes are increasingly popular to help with our children’s development, as well as language classes. We came across several parents actively using music as a way to reinforce learning of a second language.

Why is music so helpful to learn a second language?

1.     Songs are fun

2.     Songs increase retention

3.     Songs place vocabulary in context

Songs in a second language are fun

We know that children, especially small children, really like music. They relate to it as entertainment and find learning vocabulary through songs amusing. Songs associated with hand and arm gestures are even more powerful in engaging children.

Songs increase retention

Most of us are able to remember several children songs we learned as kids. Music helps retain words and expressions much more effectively. The rhythm of the music helps memorize, as well as the repetitive patterns within the song.

Songs place new words in context

A song is also a little story. Children learn new words and expressions in the context of a story within the song. This will more easily captivate the attention of kids learning a 2^nd language. Words make sense faster when you learn them in the context of the lyrics in the song, than when you learn them by themselves.

Music plays an important role in learning a second language. Similar areas of the brain are activated when listening to or playing music and speaking or processing language. Language and music are both associated with emotions, the combination makes it a powerful way to learn a second language.

If you have a way to use music to teach your kids a second language, please let us know.

“Learning a 2nd language: I know my children will be thankful later on”

The 5 Questions: How do you inspire your children to learn a 2^nd language?

Profile: Joel and son Pascal (8) and daughter Alina (6)

Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Main language: German

Language learned with Dad: English

What is your favorite activity that helps your Pascal and Alina learn English?

I enjoy reading stories to Alina in English. My parenting language is English. So any games we play with Pascal and Alina are in English.

What is a helpful tool you use?

YouTube and Google are great tools we use to explain things in English. The other day Alina had a question about clouds and how rain is formed. I did not have a good answer that came to mind. So we searched on YouTube and found a video in English that explains it.

What is your #1 challenge? What helps in overcoming this challenge?

Airtime. 90% of the time they are in a German environment, at school, with friends, with my wife Hana who only uses German with them.

Having my Mom over helps. She speaks only in English to them. We might also find a bilingual school to have things more balanced between the two languages.

Any tip or advice you have for other parents?

Just do it. Make the commitment to do it, even if you do not have much airtime. I was raised with 3 languages and loved it. Games are also important. Playing games makes it easier for the kids to have a desire to learn and practice a language.

What keeps you going?

Knowing how beneficial it is to learn languages early, and knowing also the kids will be thankful later on, once they understand the benefit.

The 4 pillars of story-telling to learn a second language

Reading and telling stories is the common element to parents who raise their children with a second language. Not only it is the common element, it is the #1 on the priority list.

Parents that raise their kids with a second language are “story addicts”. They find every possible opportunity to tell or listen to stories with their children. Here are the 4 pillars of how parents expose their children to stories:

1. Creating a story routine

2. Making children actors in the story

3. "Everywhere story-telling"

4. Using technology as a story-telling complement

Creating a story routine

Stories are an excellent way to get the attention of children, especially when the story is a familiar one. Children love their routines. Creating a story-telling routine in a second language makes kids look forward to a story on a regular basis.

-       “Reading the same story, night after night. My son does not want to listen to another story. He knows the story in Russian by heart. I think I read it over 50 times.”

-        “Coming home after work, I read a 5-minute story on the couch”

-       “ During breakfast on week-ends I read 2 or 3 stories, usually a fairy tale or hero story, Not sure if it gives them the best manners at the table, but it helps them listen to French”

Making children actors in the story

Creating stories where children are the heroes makes them engaged and helps them practice the second language.

-       “At bedtime, making up a story where our children are the heroes. It gets them very engaged, as they want to hear what will happen”

-       “I like playing with puppets: creating a 1 minute story that I tell, then having my daughter act out also a 1 minute story”

“Everywhere story-telling”

Talking, having frequent conversations, finding opportunities everywhere to tell stories or listen to them is used by parents to expose the children as much as possible to the second language.

-        “Going to the park, and telling a story about what we see there, in Hindi”

-       “”When driving, I put on children stories on CDs in Spanish”

Using technology as a story telling complement

Technology will never replace what parents or teachers do directly with the children to learn a second language. However, it can greatly help in reinforcing what parents or educators do.

-       “Having grandma reading a story via skype, showing the pictures of the book to the camera”

-       “Listening to podcasts on the internet (ex: Cody’s Cuentos). Every week is another story in Spanish, we listen to it together”

-       “Screen time on week-ends: we listen to French stories on the iPad for 15 min”

 What is your own habit of telling or listening to stories with your child, in a second language?